don't go, come close (and wake up with me)
by breakingatthecracks
Summary: QW14 (Future Quinntana) - Today is the eighth anniversary of the day she said 'yes' to that movie with you. Quinn doesn't know it, you don't think she does. But you've celebrated it every year since.


**A/N:** Just to give you a brief background, I started writing this story for the Day 2 theme. Then, it turned into something else that isn't very fluffy anymore so, yeah. And this is my favorite entry by far. (And, as you may have observed, I write Quinntana by using what's canon and I try to spin it into something else, just know that I have stopped watching the show after episodes 100 and 101. My headcanon of _everybody _stops there, including Rachel's.)

Again, for the ones who just found my stories, my QW14 entries are all connected. This one has made a couple of references to the previous stories.

* * *

**(Madison is one. Santana and Quinn are five.)**

You stand by the door watching Quinn tuck Maddie to bed. The girl just smiles contentedly and you still wonder up until this day how Quinn manages to calm that hyperactive kid down. Where Maddie is silly with you, she's obedient with Quinn.

"Good night, Maddie. Mom and Mommy love you, okay?" Quinn whispers. Maddie nods and smiles as Quinn kisses her forehead.

You love Maddie's smile. She's got Quinn's smile.

She also has Quinn's hair and eyes.

When Maddie falls asleep, Quinn walks to you and links your arms together as she leads you to the living room. The house isn't as big as that of Rachel and Brody's but it's homey and it's yours and it's got Quinn's touch everywhere.

You've been together five years and it still overwhelms you how Quinn just fits in your life perfectly.

"How was work?" Quinn asks you, like she always does.

"A bitch," you say because being a music producer sucks when you're in a commercial label.

"When is it not?"

You laugh, "Yeah, so it's pretty much just another day at the office… or studio. Whatever. How about yours?"

Quinn smiles gently and you always admire how her profession suits her. She doesn't get old, teaching pre-school makes her look younger by the day.

"It was pretty chill. The kids used all day to draw something for their parents."

"Chill? When did you learn to use that word?" you chuckle.

"When I started dating you obviously," she says smilingly, as she lays down on the couch, resting her head on your lap.

By habit, you stroke her hair.

You've always loved how soft it is.

"'Tana," she calls out with that sweet tone of her, telling you that she's about to ask you some kind of a ridiculous favor.

"Fabray," you say firmly but with a knowing smirk.

She pouts, because she knows you can't resist it, "Tomorrow is PTA day."

"And?"

"The parents wanna meet you."

_Ugh_.

This is one aspect of her job you hate.

"Quinn, I can't be around people who, like, smile all the time. I saw them when I dropped you off for the field trip, I nearly cried on the way home."

Quinn laughs, "Please?"

You roll your eyes, "Do I have a choice?"

She laughs as she stands up and kisses you, "Nope."

She then heads to your bedroom skipping.

You close your eyes and smile.

Today is the fifth anniversary of the day she said _yes _to that movie with you. Quinn doesn't know it, you don't think she does.

But you've celebrated it every year since.

.

**(Madison is two. Santana and Quinn are six.)**

"Do you really need to go?" Quinn asks you, again pulling off that pout. You know she's against this trip but the label requires you to meet the new solo artist in LA.

"Rachel will be staying with you for a few days, Q. She'll help you with Maddie as long as you help her with her pregnancy."

She chuckles, "But I really don't want you to go."

"I don't want to go, Quinn. I don't wanna miss Maddie's first day in ballet," you roll your eyes at it, good-natured sarcasm dripping in your tone. You didn't want Maddie to attend ballet and neither did Quinn. But it was Rachel who insisted.

With her hormones, neither of you really didn't have much choice.

"If you come home and Maddie's gone deaf with all the singing, don't blame me," Quinn says as she grabs some more of your shirts and takes over packing your things—knowing very well you suck at it.

You stand behind her and wrap your arms around her waist as she continues to pack. She relaxes in your touch immediately. Up until this day, you still can't believe you got the girl.

"I'll miss you," you say because that's the truth. Heck, you miss her everyday.

"Don't get soft on me right now," she says playfully but she turns around and kisses you anyway.

"Too late for that now, Q," you tell her.

She snakes her arms around your neck as you pull her closer by the waist.

"Do you wish sometimes that we've done things differently?" you ask her.

It has been your thing—to ask random questions when this life with Quinn overwhelms you in a good way.

Somehow, this was never how you imagined your future to be. And yet, you couldn't imagine it not being like this.

She looks away for a moment, giving it a thought. She then nods, "Maybe."

"What would you change?"

"I would've said yes sooner."

Tears well in your eyes and _God, _you hate how much of a sap you are now.

"You would have been this soft earlier in your life," she says laughingly and then kisses your cheek. "Now go get your daughter because Aunt Rachel and her giant belly is arriving soon. You don't want to be alone in the room when that happens."

You laugh because you remember exactly how Maddie's eyes went wide when she saw Rachel's baby bump. The girl is seven months pregnant with twins so naturally, it is a _giant belly_. You've seen this—Maddie having your sass and life skills.

You tease Quinn everyday for it.

"I'll finish this up," she tells you and you only stare at her. Up until this day, it still amazes you how you got Quinn Fabray to pack your stuff. "Quit staring."

"I couldn't even if I tried," you say and then you kiss her cheek. "Make it fast, Fabray. You don't wanna miss Maddie's reaction when she sees Berry. It's the most hilarious thing I've seen in my life."

"Our daughter got that from you."

You shrug proudly and she only glares at you.

You make your way to Maddie's room and you smile to yourself.

Today is the sixth anniversary of the day she said _yes _to that movie with you. Quinn doesn't know it, you don't think she does.

But you've celebrated it every year since.

.

**(Madison is three. Santana and Quinn are seven.)**

"Seven years, Santana! Seven years and we're still fighting about Brittany!" she yells, tears falling down her cheeks.

Maddie is crying in her room, shocked to see her moms yelling at each other. You've fought before. In fact, you fight a lot.

But it was never this intense.

It was never this serious.

None of those fights ever sent Quinn packing—like what she's doing right now.

"She needed me, Quinn. Her life with Aaron is falling apart and—"

Quinn chuckles bitterly, "—and of course, Santana saves the day."

"Q, it wasn't like that. I went to Lima to—"

"—to what? To make her feel better? She's not your responsibility anymore, Santana. You have a child! With me, if I may add!" she's really angry, you know it. Her cheeks are turning red.

"Q," you plead silently. You're scared because she's packed Maddie's things and she's packing hers. "Please, let's talk."

She's putting in those bags everything you have in your life.

"Well, you didn't think about talking to me first when you went to Lima so you don't have the right to ask for something you never gave me."

"Q," you plead again. This time, you grab her by her elbow to spin her around so she's facing you. You meet her eyes, "Quinn, Brittany and I, we're just friends now, okay? We're done, over. A long time ago."

Quinn looks back at you, just as intense, "Are you really?"

It takes you aback—the way her voice sounded so cold. You haven't seen _this _Quinn in a while and it scares you a bit.

You stare at each other for a moment before she pulls her hand back. She zips the luggage and takes the other bags she has packed. She walks toward the bedroom door. Before she steps out, she says, "We'll be staying at Rachel and Brody's for a while. Figure this out, Santana. I'm so fucking tired of coming in second to Brittany. At least have the decency to not put Madison in this kind of torture. I was forced to take that crap in high school, S. I'm not about eat the same shit again."

She walks out.

And she takes Maddie with her.

Today, the skeletons in your closet haunt you.

Today is the seventh anniversary of the day she said _yes _to that movie with you. Quinn doesn't know it, you don't think she does.

You've celebrated it every year since but today, the demons under your bed are celebrating it with you.

.

**(Madison is four. Santana and Quinn are eight.)**

Today, you think you're ready.

You think it's time for Quinn to come home.

You think you've figured it out, not that there was anything to figure out. It's always been her and Maddie. It's always going to be them.

But Quinn was right when she said she needed you to be really in it—to be really in this marriage. To be really in this moment. She asked you to grow up.

She got a lease at the apartment next to Rachel's and she let you see Maddie anytime you wanted.

But it's been a year and you miss her so much.

You're standing outside her door when you realized how much you need her in your life—or how much your life isn't _your life _unless she's in it.

She opens the door and looks at you as if she'd been expecting you.

"Come home, Quinn," you say and you swallow, hard.

You cannot take a _no_. You cannot take a rejection.

She only stares at you and you think this is the perfect time. You pull a ring out of your pocket and you show it to her, "Marry me again. This time, we'll do it right."

Tears well in her eyes.

"I need you, Quinn. The house is so lonely without you there and Maddie misses the days when all of us would go to Rockefeller to skate. I need you and Maddie to come home. I need us to be a family again. I know I've made mistakes but Quinn, since you left home I tried so hard to become the right person you'd come home to every night," you state your case, your voice shaking.

Maddie emerges from inside the apartment, holding a teddy bear. She beams when she sees you, "Mommy!"

Maddie runs to your arms and you kneel to scoop her up.

You could tell, by the way Quinn is looking at the two of you, that she misses it too.

"Are you coming home, Mommy?" Maddie asks, and you're surprised for a moment because Maddie just asked you a full question without stuttering. She's growing up fast and she's looking more like Quinn with each passing day.

You smile sadly, "Maddie, the question is, are _you _coming home?"

Maddie turns to Quinn and smiles, as if trying to convince her mother, "Mom?"

You turn to Quinn again, "Quinn, come home with me."

For a moment there, you almost thought she'd say no but she opens the door wider and steps aside to make way for you. "Okay," she says.

Tears fall from your eyes immediately, "Okay?"

"We're coming home, San."

You smile despite your watery eyes as you watch her make her way inside. She turns to you before she disappears into the kitchen, "But first, lunch?"

You nod and you thank God for Quinn Fabray because _lunch_ to Quinn is synonymous to a second chance.

"Mommy, why are you crying?" Maddie asks you as she wipes your tears.

"Mommy is just really happy," you say as you close the door behind you and walk to the living room.

You sit Maddie on your lap as you take a spot in the couch.

"Ma, can we take Sandy with us? Sandy is my bestfriend."

You shake your head gently and then smiles, "No, baby. Auntie Rachel will be sad if we take Sandy."

"But we will visit her?"

"Of course," you say, trying your best not to roll your eyes at your daughter because _never _in a million years did you think that your daughter will be bestfriends will Rachel Berry's daughter—who is, of course, predictably named after the _Grease _character.

You sometimes like to think the girl is named after the typhoon because _seriously, _that kid has her mother's everything except, thank God, for her nose.

Sandy's twin is named Serena and she's named after the _Fame _character.

You smile to yourself as you think about the life you just got back. Quinn is coming home and you know the lease is over in a week anyway. Somehow, you know that Quinn always knew that one year will be enough for you to pull your shit together. It relieves you that Quinn never lost her faith in you.

Rachel will finally stop calling you to lecture you about everything you're missing in Maddie's life—which is just basically the things Maddie does with her twins like recitals and voice lessons. She can finally stop alternating her Friday Dinner with Friends between you and Quinn. And though you will never admit it, you missed having Friday night dinners with Rachel and Brody.

You're married to Quinn. You have a wonderful daughter named after Emma Roberts' character in American Horror Story. You're still friends with Rachel Berry—who gave her hooker boyfriend a second chance and for once actually did the right call. You and Brody are practically _bros. _Madison, Sandy, and Serena are bestfriends.

This is your life now.

Today is the eighth anniversary of the day she said _yes _to that movie with you. Quinn doesn't know it, you don't think she does.

But you've celebrated it every year since.

You'll celebrate it every damn year because Quinn said _yes_. She doesn't say _yes _very often but she's made you an exception to all her rules.

To you, that's enough.

_Yes_.

It's funny how that one word changed your life forever.

* * *

Title is from Gabrielle Aplin's "Wake Up With Me". I'm using my Quintanna playlist for everything!

Thoughts?


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